Black Dahlia (15 page)

“I know he is.” Mercedes had let the words slip before she could catch herself. Iris’ laser sharp focus was on Mercedes’ hand as it still rested in Raul’s larger hand. She was pleased when he brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. She was even more pleased to see Mercedes’ features soften into a look of admiration, desire and….love?

She looked at Raul’s face and saw the near identical look on his face.

It took Iris a mere thirty seconds after Mercedes and Raul left her condo, to dial the number for Rosaline in Brazil. They had a lot to discuss, like whether the wedding should take place in Brazil or Atlanta, because Iris was sure that’s where this was headed.

   ****

“Raul, this is beautiful. I think it might be too much,” Mercedes said as she looked down into the Mississippi River from their hotel suite. For Mercedes’ final burlesque trip of the summer, Raul wanted to do something special for her. Instead of keeping the reservation at the original hotel Mercedes usually stayed at, he’d made a reservation at the upscale Hotel Monteleone. The room was exquisite offering a large living room area as soon as you walked in. The room was furnished with a plush light colored couch, a couple of floral accented chairs, a flat screen television and a large window that provided viewing of the Mighty Mississippi. But as spacious and accommodating as the living room area was, the bedroom was even more opulent. A king sized bed sat at the center of the room, with more windows allowing for a greater view of the river and the city of New Orleans. Booking this suite allowed Raul to kill two birds with one stone. First, after what happened in Chicago he didn’t want to risk her stalker getting too close to her again. Second, he wanted to do something special for her at the end of their summer of traveling. Raul had become so concerned about keeping Mercedes safe, he’d even thought of asking her to consider skipping this trip altogether, but knew he couldn’t do it. Mercedes talked about getting to New Orleans all summer. It was one of the biggest events in the burlesque world. All the top burlesque performers were expected to be there, including Ditta Von Teese. After months of living in the shadow of a stalker, Raul couldn’t deprive Mercedes of this special trip, so he improvised. He didn’t bother to tell her that the room was of no cost to him because his father’s company had a standing reservation with the hotel. Nor, did he tell her about the security team he had assigned to them for their time in New Orleans. He went so far as to hire a few outside contractors he worked with to ensure that someone would always be watching their back as they were out and about in the city.

“It’s not nearly enough for you, Querida,” he said coming up behind her, pulling her back against his chest, and placing a kiss in the crook of her neck. He instantly felt her relax into her embrace.

“What does that even mean?” She asked.

“What?”

“Querida. You always call me it. I figured it was Portuguese because I’ve never heard it before. What does it mean?” Raul smiled. He’d been calling ‘querida’ for months. It just felt as natural as calling her by her name.

“It’s just a term of endearment, like ‘sweetie’ or ‘baby’ in English,” he explained.

Mercedes nodded and turned, looking up at him. “Oh, is that right? So, am I your ‘sweetie’ or ‘baby’?” She asked. Raul stared down into her upturned face.

“Yes, you are my Querida.” Raul felt her arms tighten around his waist as she laid her head against his chest. From that angle he could see the smile that passed over her face.

Later that evening the couple opted to dine at the hotel’s Criollo Restaurant. As they entered the restaurant, Mercedes spotted Jazmine, a regular performer from the Black Kitty. She dined with an older woman.

“Hey, there’s Jazmine,” Mercedes told Raul at the same time the other woman looked up at the same time. She smiled and waved at Mercedes causing the older woman she was with to turn around.

“Let’s go say hi while we wait,” she said grabbing Raul’s arm. They had booked a private dining space that the restaurant staff was still readying for them.

“Hi, Jazmine,” Mercedes said as they reached her table. Jazmine stood and greeted Mercedes with a brief hug and shook hands with Raul upon introduction. She’d met him before at the club, but it was a brief encounter.

The older woman raised an eyebrow. “Jazmine?” she asked. Mercedes forgot that most of the dancers at the Black Kitty didn’t go by their actual names at the club, mostly using their stage names with one another.

“Aunt Ruth, this is the performer I was telling you about, Black Dahlia. We all usually go by our stage names at the club,” Jazmine explained to her aunt. Jazmine’s full stage name was Jazmine Noir, but her actual name was Stacey Coleman.

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am. You can call me Mercedes. That’s my government name,” Mercedes joked and the table laughed. “This is Raul,” she introduced, and Raul shook hands with both the women.

“We didn’t want to interrupt, we’re waiting for our table and I just saw Jazmine and wanted to say hello.”

“Oh, it’s no interruption. Sit and have a drink with us while you wait,” Jazmine encouraged. “And since we’re not at the club, you can call me Stacey. That’s
my
government name,” she said smiling.

Raul pulled out a chair for Mercedes and sat in a seat across from her. The waiter came and took their drink orders. Mercedes ordered a white wine, and Raul got a scotch on the rocks.

“I didn’t know you were performing here Ja-uh Stacey,” Mercedes said as she sipped from her glass.

Stacey shook her head. “I’m not, but I’ve wanted to come for a few years now just to watch. This year, my aunt was finally able to take the trip with me,” Stacey said nodding towards her Aunt Ruth.

“Yup, we’re here for the shows, the crawfish, and the beignets,” Aunt Ruth said excitedly, and the table laughed. After another ten minutes of light banter and conversation, the hosts came to let Raul and Mercedes know their dining space was ready.

“Well, thank you for letting us crash your dinner. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to meet up with one another again before either of us leaves,” Mercedes said, standing.

“That sounds nice. Here let me give you my cell. Stacey jotted down her cell number on a napkin and handed it to Mercedes.

“Enjoy your dinner and the rest of your night,” Stacey’s aunt smiled as the pair left following the host.

****

“You didn’t know she was going to be here?” Raul asked as they sat down to their table in the private dining room.

Mercedes shook her head, “No, but it was nice to see her.”

Raul nodded, “And you didn’t tell anyone where you were staying, right?”

Mercedes looked up at Raul confused. “How could I tell anyone? I didn’t even know we were staying here until we arrived, remember?” She asked getting curious. Raul had kept their hotel reservation a secret from everyone including her. Mercedes was starting to feel like he was holding something back from her.

“Is something the matter?” She asked. “And don’t lie to me,” she told him straightforward.

“And you haven’t told anyone since we’ve been here, right?” He asked ignoring her last statement.

“No, Raul. I haven’t told anyone. I haven’t even talked to anyone else,” she said growing tension in her voice.

“Okay,” he said blowing out a breath. Mercedes felt whatever he was preparing to say she wasn’t going to like.    

“When we were in Chicago, there was an attempted security breach,” he stated calmly.

“What kind of security breach?”

“Someone tried to hack into the hotel’s guest list and get the room number you were staying in. They weren’t successful and security immediately came and told me. Even if they found your name on the guest list, they would have had the wrong room. I placed your name on the list as a decoy, and booked the room we actually stayed in under an alias. You were never in any danger,” Raul took a moment to let what he’d just said sink in, before telling her more. He figured if he was going to be upfront he might as well tell the whole truth.

“There’s more,” he said. Mercedes peered at him intently, waiting for him to finish. “There’ve been letters. Your stalker has been sending letters to your PO Box for the past few months. My team has been intercepting them,” he explained.

“What do the letters say?” She asked.

Raul didn’t want to say the vile filth that was contained in the letters. They were filled with threats of violence and innuendos blaming her for the destruction of a family. Raul had spoken with all her recent exes, and even some from her past. None of them had been married or even had children. Mercedes was definitely nobody’s homewrecker, so he couldn’t understand how this person blamed her for the breakup of a family. 

“You don’t need to know about that,” he tried to mollify her.

“Don’t need to know?” She asked incredulous.

“Mercedes calm down.”

As soon as the words left his mouth he knew he’d made a mistake. Any man knows that telling a woman to
calm down
when she became agitated often had the opposite effect.

“Don’t tell me to calm the fuck down. I’m the one who’s being sent threatening letters! What if this sicko had gotten my room number in Chicago? Why didn’t you tell me? God, I’m so sick of this shit, why won’t this asshole just leave me the hell alone?” she asked a mix of fear, anger and frustration in her eyes.

Raul watched as her eyes glossed over. He had expected this. He’d worked with a number of stalking victims, and they all had their breaking point. The fear of being the target of someone, not knowing how or why they chose you, or how to make them stop can become unbearable. Many cracked under the psychological strain, even becoming physically ill due to the stress. So far, Mercedes had been a trooper. Raul knew she was strong but even those of us who were strong needed a shoulder to lean on when things got too overwhelming. He stood and made his way around the table, pulling Mercedes out of her chair. He pulled her in close. She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t let her. Eventually, she gave up and let herself be held. She sniffled a few times into his chest as he embraced her. Raul didn’t know how long they stood like that, him providing the emotional comfort she needed. When their waiter came in to take their orders, Raul waved him off, as he continued to hold on to Mercedes.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he whispered into her ear, over and over again. When he felt her body relax, and her sniffles lessen he pulled back to look down at her. Her eyes were reddened from the tears she shed. He picked up a napkin from the table and dabbed at her cheeks to wipe the tears away, before handing it to her to let her wipe her face and blow her nose. He tilted her chin to make her look up at him.

“I won’t let anything happen to you. You’re safe. Okay? This will be over soon,” he promised. It was a promise he was dead set on keeping. Her lips quirked up into a brief smile.

“Thank you. I’m so--”

He growled in a warning, halting the apology on her lips. “Don’t you dare apologize. You’ve been through a lot in the last few months. It’s a lot for anybody, and you’ve handled it better than most.” He palmed her face in his hands and placed a kiss on her forehead. “I promise you’re safe with me. This trip will be everything you expected it to be and more, and when we get home I will find this person once and for all. And when I do, they will regret the day they ever tried to fuck with you,” he said menacingly. Raul leaned down and took her lips in a powerful kiss that by the end had both of them panting. Mercedes gave him that smile that always brought out his protective instincts.

“Thank you,” she whispered her lips grazing his. It took every ounce of strength he had not to rip her clothes off right then and there, but he showed restraint. Stepping back, he pulled Mercedes’ chair out for her to sit, before returning back to his own seat. The waiter re-entered the room a few minutes later and took their orders. While they waited for their meals, Raul continued to reassure Mercedes, telling her of the security detail he hired for this trip, and reminding her that Nikola and Devyn were joining them in a couple days. He knew she was looking forward to seeing Devyn after spending almost the entire summer apart. Minutes later the two were feasting. It was almond crusted speckled trout for Mercedes and grilled Angus sirloin for Raul. He managed to bring an upbeat mood to the conversation when he asked about the different sights Mercedes was looking to seeing while here. She smiled and told him that one thing she really wanted to do, that she’d never gotten a chance to do before was a swamp tour. Raul was game, and made a mental note to check out swamp tours and run them past his security team, right after he assigned his team to get him information on one Stacey Coleman. Raul was a man who readily didn’t believe in coincidences. He just wanted to make sure that Stacey Coleman and her aunt were on the up and up, and their surprise run-in was actually a surprise and not planned. Stacey’s connection to the Black Kitty gave her access to Mercedes while at the club, and she likely knew of Mercedes’ performances around the country. Raul was nothing if not thorough when it came to doing his job, and he was even more resolute in keeping the woman he loved safe.

Sometime around the time he’d heard Mercedes deliver her speech to the committee members of her school, the small piece of his heart that she didn’t already possess, up and fled from his chest and fell right into her hands. His entire heart and soul was hers. He’d loved women in the past, but nothing like this. This woman was the one for him. Now, he just had to convince her of the same thing, and keep her safe while doing it.